family painting

[chefman]

i have aquired an old family painting which has been handed down and have been told that the painting is connected to my family
bottom left is written THE MERSEY
bottom right "R McKENZIE
dated 1904
has anyone ever heard of him as a painter
i do have some liverpool roots
thanks

[chefman]

just to add to this, there are some initials on the bottom right, do you think they might help. they are
A.R.S.A..........theses are after his name
thanks

[cati]

The most likely meaning of A R S A seems to be Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy (I had a quick google) - there's a website here which might be helpful:

www.royalscottishacademy.org

Cati

[chefman]

thankyou cati, i have been in touch with them and they have not heard of him

QUOTE

"Thank you for your enquiry regarding your oil painting of a two-funnelled ship, inscribed “The Mersey” and inscribed on the frame “R McKenzie ARSA 1904.”
 
I regret that I cannot help you at all with this. In fact it is a bit of a mystery. There has never been an associate member of the Royal Scottish Academy (ARSA) with the name R McKenzie (or similar). I have checked all the appropriate records here and can find no trace of such a painter working in Scotland around the early 1900s. I wonder where the information on the frame comes from?
 
I have found just one reference to a painter with the correct name and initial who was working at around this right time. He was Roderick D Mackenzie, and the reference gives him as having a Paris address in 1908. He exhibited one painting in a gallery in London called the “London Salon.” But that is all the information I have.

I wonder whether you might have more success if you tried a different research route. As your painting is a shipping subject in the Mersey, how about contacting Liverpool Museums. I suggest you go to the website www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk and follow the most appropriate links from there (maybe via Merseyside Maritime Museum).
UNQUOTE

i have tried to do do something on this site but i dont know if i am doing it right, can any body give me  some suggestions
thanks
 
 

[macintosh]

Looks like a Cunard vessel with red funnel and black top, they sailed out of Liverpool at that time


James

[KGarrad]

Isle of Man Steam Packet company used, and still uses, red funnel with black top.

They also sailed out of Liverpool!

Cunard funnels had 2 narrow black lines on the red?
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/cunard.html

[aghadowey]

pictures for Isle of Man Steam Packet Co.-
http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/IOMSP2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man_Steam_Packet_Company

Is Mersey the name of the vessel or could it be the subject name of the painting?

[chefman]

thanks for the replies
i think "the mersey" is for the river as while researching other ships seem to be on that same bit of water with masted ships in the background, and i am surprised he has not put a name on to the boat
was there ever a boat called the "mersey"

[KGarrad]

Of course, it could just be artistic licence?!?!

I think perspective makes the vessel look big?
Looking at the size (diameter) of the funnels, I don't think it's really that big.